Comparison

The Last Book Shelf vs Orbil

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

The Last Book Shelf

This app curates a collection of enduring literary works, helping you track your reading progress and discover essential books. It encourages thoughtful engagement with literature and offers tools to reflect on your reading journey and mortality.

Highlights
  • Curated literary canon
  • Reading progress tracking
  • Memento Mori Counter
  • Mortality Report
  • Personalized reading journal
  • Book club feature
  • Giftable reading lists
Features
Read full description

How many books do you have left to read before you die? Enter your age and your reading pace, and the Librarian does the arithmetic. Most people are startled by the answer. That number is the whole idea: a life is only so many books long, so the ones you choose had better be worth it. From there, the app helps you spend it well. A CANON WORTH THE TIME More than a thousand books, each one chosen by a PhD in literature and argued for in plain language. Every book also gets an honest case against it, because your time is finite and not every great book is for you. No feed of whatever everyone else clicked. A real reader's judgment, written down. A TASTE THAT'S YOURS Take the quiz and the Librarian reads your answers like tarot, then searches the stacks for the books that belong in your hands. Name five that already blew your mind and she finds their lost kin. Crown your Top 20 and the shelf answers with ten more you haven't met yet, each with a line on why it belongs. A PLACE TO ACTUALLY READ Light the candle, set the hour, and sit with one book and nothing else. The app keeps the world out for as long as you asked. It even tallies the hours the distractions were quietly stealing, and hands them back one book at a time. YOUR SHELF, YOUR SIGN Your Top 20 becomes a Reader Passport: a crest drawn from the shape of your shelf, a constellation you can arrange, the span of centuries and languages you read across. Yours, and shareable. QUIETER ROOMS Write a letter to another reader about a single book, one a week, no feed and no likes. Read a book in step with a friend. Find the strangers whose shelves overlap with yours. Press the books you love into someone's hands. Read like it matters. It does. Last Book Shelf is free to browse. A Pro subscription opens the full canon, the focus timer, and the social rooms. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Orbil

Features
Read full description

Orbil is a personal book library, reading tracker, and reading journal designed to keep your reading life organized. Catalog the books you own, follow your reading progress, record reading sessions, and remember more from every book. Whether you read physical books, eBooks, or audiobooks, Orbil gives you one private place for your collection and reading journey. With Orbil, you can: • Organize and search your personal book library • Track pages, progress, and reading sessions • Manage your reading queue and wishlist • Save thoughts, memorable quotes, and new vocabulary • Record book locations and track lent or borrowed books • Review reading habits, streaks, and statistics • Personalize your visual bookshelf, with optional premium styles and decors • Look back on your reading through monthly recaps Orbil focuses on your books—not social activity, public reviews, or popularity. It is a calm and practical reading companion for readers who want to track what they read, remember what they learned, and keep their collection organized. Build a library that feels truly yours with Orbil. Orbil is free to use for up to 50 books. Orbil Plus is an optional one-time in-app purchase that unlocks: unlimited books, cloud sync & backup across devices, advanced reading stats and Reading Personality insights, premium shelf styles and decors, and expanded custom tags. EULA: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

The Last Book Shelf4 screens
Orbil4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: The Last Book Shelf at every 3 days against Orbil's every 10 days. The Last Book Shelf also leads on iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. The Last Book Shelf sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and Orbil sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

The Last Book Shelf ships an update every 3 days, Orbil every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and November 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
The Last Book Shelf versus Orbil: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterThe Last Book ShelfOrbil
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (6 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings6 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 days — betterEvery 10 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size335 MB33 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperKrzysztof PiekarskiPrometeuz

In-app purchases

2 purchases

The Last Book Shelf

Subscriptions2
  • Last Book Shelf Pro (Monthly)7 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Last Book Shelf Pro (Annual)7 Days trial$19.991 Year
1 purchases

Orbil

One-time1
  • Orbil Plus$59.99

Questions

Is The Last Book Shelf free?
The Last Book Shelf is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Orbil free?
Orbil is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do The Last Book Shelf or Orbil have ads?
Neither The Last Book Shelf nor Orbil shows ads.
Which is updated more often, The Last Book Shelf or Orbil?
The Last Book Shelf ships an update every 3 days, and Orbil every 10 days. Most recently, The Last Book Shelf was updated on October 31, 2026 and Orbil on November 10, 2026.

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